Susan Sarandon is a phenomenal actress who happens to be extremely intelligent, sexy, outspoken and generous. Did we mention beautiful and strong? Like her life partner Tim Robbins, Sarandon has used her fame to shed light on urgent social issues; she is a down-to-earth voice that seems to cut through all the Hollywood hoopla.

When Sarandon burst into the collective mainstream consciousness in Bull Durham, she was 42. At 45, she landed an Oscar nomination for Thelma & Louise. Five years later, she finally won an Academy Award for her compassionate performance in Dead Man Walking.

Growing up in Edison, New Jersey, Sarandon (who was born Susan Tomalin) was the eldest of nine children; her father, Phillip, was a big-band singer and advertising executive. By the time Susan was eight, the nuns at her Catholic school had declared that the youngster had "an overabundance of original sin," something that seems not to have detracted from Sarandon's success in the least. She also showed early signs of an overabundance of compassion, becoming politically active in high school. Ready to tackle government evil at the eye of the storm, Susan moved to Washington, DC, to attend Catholic University. There, she met actor Chris Sarandon; the two married in 1967, just before her senior year [the two divorced in 1979].

After graduation, Sarandon landed work as a Ford model. The acting bug bit her when Chris took Susan along to an audition in 1970. Although she landed a few bit parts here and there, she didn't get a 'big break' until 1975's cult classic, The Rocky Horror Picture Show. It wasn't like the film was a big hit on its release, but in terms of longevity, Rocky Horror has no peer. To put things in perspective (like, just how gracefully Sarandon has aged), her love interest in the campy film was Barry Bostwick, who now plays the mayor on Spin City. While Sarandon was becoming a cult heroine to midnight-madness aficionados, she was gaining a foothold in the mainstream, opposite Robert Redford in The Great Waldo Pepper.

Several high-profile roles followed (Atlantic City, The Hunger), along with some less-memorable ones (Pretty Baby, Loving Couples). By the mid-'80s, when Sarandon hit 40, she was in full stride as an outstanding actress with a daring streak (see the lesbian scene in The Hunger. No, really, see it!). Her reputation was furthered by Bull Durham, during which life imitated art as Sarandon fell in love with her younger co-star, Robbins (who, it has to be said, is nothing like his character from the film). The two have been together ever since and have two sons, Jack and Miles. Sarandon also has a daughter, Ava, from a previous relationship.

Few films have generated as much discussion as 1991's Thelma & Louise, in which Sarandon co-starred with Geena Davis, landing both actresses Oscar nominations. On a personal note, this is still one of my favorite films of all time. It wasn't a particularly unique movie, except in one aspect: it was an action-adventure film about women.

1999's Anywhere But Here is another kind of chicks-on-the-road film, but this time, it's a mother-daughter team (and nobody gets killed). As single mother Adele August, Sarandon infuses a narcissistic, almost inadvertently abusive, character with a heart as big as the prairies.